All the allegations made against Kanye West as he's sued by ex-employee

A new lawsuit filed in California on Tuesday has accused Kanye West of a number of instances of discrimination and antisemitism.

Trevor Philipps is a former employee of West's clothing brand Yeezy. He claims he was subjected to discrimination and harassment while working at the Donda Academy, a school West founded outside Los Angeles, for nearly a year.

The lawsuit seeks upwards of $35,000 in damages.

What allegations are made against West in the lawsuit?

According to the lawsuit [via NBC News], Phillips said West would never “berate a white person, but on countless occasions he saw and/or personally experienced Kanye frenziedly yell at Black people”.

Alleging anti-Semitic behaviour, the suit goes on: “Phillips, on several occasions, witnessed Kanye preach to his staff obscenities such as ‘the Jews are out to get me’ and ‘the Jews are stealing all my money’.”

Yeezy was a collaboration between West and Adidas. The German sportswear giant broke up with the rapper in October 2022 over his anti-Semitic and other offensive comments.

Elsewhere in the 47-page suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, West is accused of allegedly saying he wanted to lock students in cages and shave their heads.

Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company

In a message to Phillips, he allegedly compared himself to Hitler “minus the gas chambers”.

West also allegedly told employees they could be fired for being "fat”, according to the suit.

It also claims that the musician “gloated” about using $2 million of the school’s budget to pay for a trip to Paris.

One excerpt from the suit also states that Phillips told West he was grateful to have the job at the school his daughter also attended because of a medical condition – with the rapper allegedly responding with a “tantrum” disparaging Phillips and his daughter. West allegedly then told Phillips: “I was going to punch you in the face.”

A lawyer acting for West previously dismissed claims made about Donda in response to previous lawsuits, saying that a former employees' descriptions of Donda as a “dystopian institution designed to satisfy Ye’s idiosyncrasies” were false.

The lawyer said in a 2023 filing: “None of it is true and the allegations do a disservice to the Donda Academy’s current staff and students and their parents who will attest to their positive experience.”

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